Taking a Disney Cruise without the Kids

[JanetRose]

One on my co-workers is thinking about taking a Disney cruise but they have no children at home and are going alone. They wonder if they should take a regular cruise without so many kids on board. What is your opinion?

 

[eye R.N.]

We had a great time. Disney is usually very good about keeping the adult area's adult.

 

[videogal1]

One on my co-workers is thinking about taking a Disney cruise but they have no children at home and are going alone. They wonder if they should take a regular cruise without so many kids on board. What is your opinion?

Depends on whether their point is to have a Disney good time or to escape children...


Even "regular" cruises have children on them....some of these cruises are not well known for their childrens' programs and bored children can be more apparant than ones who are being kept busy in a club. I think that Disney is far more tuned in to the needs of adults because of their effective childrens' activities...

 

[Scott5150]

We are leaving on our 5th Disney Cruise next week. We have done two with kids and 3 without. It is a completely different cruise without kids. They have adult only areas to enjoy. We could have chosen any cruise line for our solo cruise, but love the quality of Disney so much that we keep coming back.

Scott

 

[WDWLVR]

DH and I don't have kids and love cruising Disney. They do a good job of keeping the adults only areas just for adults.

There is plenty to do or she/he can do plenty of nothing. Their choice!

 

[spipek]

We just returned from our 3rd Disney Cruise. Our children are grown. I enjoy the mix of people young and old alike. The adult pool area is very quiet if that's what you want but the fun is at Goofy pool with live music. Mickey's pool is where the little ones hang out reminding me I'm glad my kids are grown

Sue

 

[Kim&Chris]

We have no kids, and we're cruising Disney.

At first, I was concerned about feeling 'different', but then I considered how much we love going to Disney World, and how comfortable the Disney cast members make us feel (even when we go to Chef Mickey's for breakfast ).

I've read many posts on these boards about going on the cruise child-free, and it seems that you're as welcome as any other guests. They apparently try to keep the adults with the other adults, and the families with the other families.

 

[allears]

We just returned from our 5th Disney cruise and the first without our three children. It was awesome. It is a somewhat different, in a good way, cruise. We really got to enjoy the adult areas and activities far more than in the past. And sure there are a lot of children on board, but for the most part they are occupied. Since so many lines are now trying to capture the family dollar, I don't think you can find many without children. And if you like Disney, their ships are awesome.

 

[GrayFal]

I sailed in November without the kids and had a great time....Click below and read my 'adult' trip report....in fact - check the cruise report board - there are several recent reviews from 'child-free' cruisers.

 

[eaglesrock]

I've been on several cruises and finally took a Disney cruise this past September with family (kids included). It was a great experience to enjoy with the kids. I personally would not go on a Disney cruise if I didn't have kids going. That's just me.

 

[MrsMork]

We've done 6 Disney cruises. 3 with kids of one sort or another (grandkids, nieces) and 3 without kids. All were SUPER. We have number 7 and 8 booked and they will both be without kids. Love the adult areas and the fact that Disney enforces the "no kid zones." We also love being with the kids and have shared tables with families with kids and love that interaction as well. It ALL good!

 

[DisneyElf]

I've gone on 3 Disney cruises with my sister and friends .. no kids and have the fourth one booked.

The adult areas on the ship are great and so is the Navigators series for adults only (one teenage child begged to come in since she was interested in the topic - CM said okay -but she had to be well behaved).

The only time I've ever noticed *too* many kids on the ship was on the 9/4 (oops - 9/7) sailing of the Magic due to hurricane Frances, and I think that was due to the combining of the cruisers from the Magic & Wonder cruises and DCL didn't follow there normal kid ratio.

Yes - DCL does have a kid ratio -- they want to make sure there is room in the clubs for all the kids onboard.

 

[CM_Mom]

Our first cruise was with DD the CM who is my baby at 25. We are 50 somethings and went with my mom and aunt who are 80 somethings. We all had a great time, especially DD who was cruising as a guest after completing her contract.

DH and I are planning another cruise when it will be JUST the two of us. Can't think of a better way to relax and enjoy being together. Just think, you don't have to decide what to cook, don't have to clean your room, have high quality entertainment every night but don't have to worry about it being crude or offensive and have fun activities planned for "over 18 only" as well as adults only areas. Then you also have the Mouse. What's not to like? Besides, the chairs on deck 4 are REALLY comfortable.

Tell your coworker that DCL is great for adults BECAUSE they have such great activities for the kids. Besides, I think watching the kids interact with the characters is a treat for anyone. I love watching children's eyes get big when they see Mickey or Minnie or maybe Snow White or Cinderella says hello to them. Like the MasterCard commercial says, some things are priceless.

 

[slabeaume]

I've been on a Carnival cruise and 2 Disney cruises. Although I think they were both great as far as the eating and adult planned activities, I really like that Disney has a separate pool, jacuzzis and restaurnant/bar times that are for adults only. And they enforce it! On Carnival you couldn't get near a pool or jacuzzi without the risk of being marco-poloed by at least 10 kids!

 

[AJDonn]

My wife had dinner with a coworker tonight who raved about all the activities for the children on DCL. He said that the kids were never without some supervised activity so the parents could get away when they wanted to.

It hadn't occurred to me that you could actually have fewer children underfoot on a DCL cruise than a regular cruise ship but this is an interesting surprise. But what do I care, the kids always add something special to Disney that you don't get anywhere else.

Happy cruising!

 

[HappyLawyer]

tell them children or no children, young and old one is never to old, to young or to few for disney, i hope they enjoy their trip

 

[CamColt]

Our first Disney Cruise was with our kids and my whole family. With the kids there we didnt get to do any of the adult activities. We then went back alone and felt like we had a totally different experience. We ate at Palo, went parasailing, went to the adult beach, hit all the clubs at night, enjoyed the adult pool by day...it was great.
I didnt notice any kids bothering us at all...then again its only my own kids that drive me nuts.

 

[wingawh]

DCL is great for those w/o kids. We have done 3 (2 Wonder, 1 Magic) and we do not have kids yet. I would imagine it would be great with the kids and it is as good without the little ones.

 

[oybolshoi]

DH and I do not have children and we just did the 7-night in October 2004 - we had a lovely time. There are separate areas for adults, the ship is gorgeous, and the service is Disney at its best. I'm sure there were a lot of kids on our cruise but we hardly noticed them - they weren't underfoot and the ones we did come across were very well behaved.

If your friends love Disney then I'm sure they'd enjoy the cruise, too. They won't feel out of place at all.

 

[dwkwootton]

JanetRose, I think this question requires a little more info about your friends to give a good answer. How Disney oriented are they? Take dinner for one example, if your friends are looking forward to getting all dressed up in the evening and walking into a formal atmosphere with quiet dinner music playing, Disney probably wouldn't be their best choice. If they prefer dressing casually and enjoy a very lively atmosphere, Disney is probably their best choice. Ask them this, if they were having dinner and Captain Mickey walked into an already loud restaurant to thundering applause and cheers, would they be thrilled and join in the ovation? This answer could be the overall answer.